Jury returns verdict in Trade Secrets Case

A chemical expert who created a method of transforming certain hazardous industrial wastes into lucrative manufacturing ingredients, only to have his idea stolen, was awarded a $192 million verdict recently by a Mobile County jury. The compensatory damages verdict was in favor of Dr. Sven Peter Mannsfeld and against Ineos Americas LLC and Ineos Phenol. Ineos Americas LLC, a German-based company owned by Ineos Phenol, owns a chemical plant in Theodore. The $192 million award was the projected profit the Theodore plant alone is expected make into the year 2025.

The Plaintiff developed a concept in the late 1990s, not long before he retired from the chemical field, through which hazardous waste materials are used as building products in the manufacture of items such as tires. In 2004, Dr. Mannsfeld learned that the Defendants were using his idea and had even devised patents for the process in Germany, Belgium, the European Union and the United States. He filed suit in June 2006. Skip Finkbonner and Bobo Cunningham, who are very good lawyers from Mobile, represented the Plaintiff and did an outstanding job.